Carnival or something diferent

[Mr. Tricky]

Been away from the board a long time. Now its time to plan my next cruise:D. I have been on 2 RCI and 2 Carnival cruises. Last one being Carnival Liberty to HMC, St. Thomas, Grand Turk, and San Juan. Awesome cruise!!

We are a family of 5 DW, and 3 boys ages 11-15. The boys have been with us on both Carnival cruises and are convinced that it is the greatest cruise line that can possibly exist.

I thought I would ask for your opinions with a decision about our next cruise. I love most things about Carnival but I am not crazy about the decor. I also am not crazy about the constant announcements. I have a list of activities thank you. I do love the price, we need 2 rooms for my family of 5 and prefer adjoining balconies. I like the food and the service.

Because we have a few adult family members ages 35-65 going with us I want to consider what they might like or not like. None of the adults need to rock climb, ice skate, or play basketball. Quality of food is a priority. As is live entertainment. I wish there were real bands playing more often.

We will be traveling during a school break in the early spring. I love having kids around but I don't want thousands of them. My kids would not even think about misbehaving. Cant be said for all kids. More kids = more of a chance that some will be annoying.

 

All things considered is there another line that might offer me a good value, have less anouncements, more live bands, great food, and a less likely chance of too many children during a school break? RCI is getting a little expensive. I have considered NCI.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

I good things about NCL and I am considering them on my next cruise.

 

I recently cruised Carnival for the first time on the Liberty and it was great. I see you cruised it as well. Perhaps look into booking Liberty again? You know what to expect at least. It wasnt to gaudy but the food could have been better IMHO.

[Mr. Tricky]

I did enjoy Liberty. I have read here that she is going into dry dock later this year which could make her even more awsome. I am planning to cruise during February break. Trying to see if there is another option that will have less kids on board but not too boring.

[DGP1111]

All things considered is there another line that might offer me a good value, have less anouncements, more live bands, great food, and a less likely chance of too many children during a school break? RCI is getting a little expensive. I have considered NCI.

 

Definitely do give Norwegian Cruise Lines a look-see.

I recently did . . . and, boy, was I ever glad with the decision. :)

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[Rottweiler Puppy]

I did enjoy Liberty. I have read here that she is going into dry dock later this year which could make her even more awsome. I am planning to cruise during February break. Trying to see if there is another option that will have less kids on board but not too boring.

 

When did you go on Liberty last? i went the last week of April and while there were kids, most were in their clubs and weren't an issue at all.

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

I don't know this for sure, but February is early for a lot of kids to be on break...some will be (like yours) but I think the majority of kids have break in March and April...so you might luck out and not have too many kids. I've heard good things about NCL...I really think you will get about the same product from RCI and CCL (yes, ship decor is a little louder on Carnival:D) I can't speak for NCL.

 

We went on the Freedom during winter break, and while there were a lot of kids, they kind of seemed disbursed in the many areas of the ship, so I didn't notice them much...

 

I hear you on the CCL announcements...though I do recall my first cruise the announcements were coming into the cabin, but on recent cruises, they were limited to hallways and outdoor areas (can't say this is true for all the ships, but I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of in-room announcements).

 

I would research the different ships and see which ones have a lot of activities, because those may have less bored kids running around...but you never know...like you said, not all kids behave!

[cruisinmeme]

our next two cruise's are booked with ncl. this will be our first with them and we are platinum with ccl. reason: price, 4 ports rather than 3 and better situation with cabin choice.

we have a mid ship balcony booked for jan. 2012 for 549.00 pp then for november 2012 (thanksgiving week) we have the family suite (holds 6) booked for us and 3 grandkids. this cabin is nicer and has a long list of perks compared to ccl and the best part is we are paying 1060.00 less than we paid for last suite with ccl. to top it off this will be a 7 day and the one we paid more for was only a 5 day. january is on spirit (new orleans) and november will be the star.

all i can say at this point is i hope and pray nothing happens to these bookings cause if we had to take the kids on carnival it would be a situation of two cabins and cost a fortune more.

explore your options.....

[jessemon]

My next cruise is booked with NCL...Hearing many good things about them from friends I have cruise with in the past that have also cruised Carnival....

Carnival is just getting tooooo greedy for me and the same old same old all the time....;)

We booked the NCL Dawn in a very good balcony cabin location on a higher deck for two for $1300. Same basic cruise out of Tampa on Carnival is $1700...:eek:

[uncleboo]

hi

cruised ncl in March 2011

cruised carnival may 2011

 

ncl had better entertainment and decor and activities

 

carnival food was good but was boring entertainment was not up to par

not enough activities

 

prefer ncl

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

stick with Carnival